While the facial recognition system is already available on Apple phones and iPads, the company is yet to offer Face ID on Macs. Currently, Mac users need to type the password to unlock it or use fingerprint with Touch ID. Now, a fresh report from 9to5Mac has found evidence of Face ID mention in the macOS Big Sur code, the new version of Apple’s desktop operating system.
To be more specific, macOS Big Sur mentions “PearlCamera,” the name that Apple uses internally to identify the TrueDepth camera, the component required for Face ID. As per the cited source, the same name was also found in the leaks of the iPhone X in 2017. In addition, other extensions such as “FaceDetect” and “BioCapture” are also present in the beta of the operating system. The code of both is similar to the one used by iOS.
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The report also noted that the Face ID extension was built for macOS, and it’s not some code from Catalyst technology. It is being said that the implementation of the facial recognition system is still in the early stages, so don’t expect it to be coming soon. To recall, Face ID requires a special camera to perform three-dimensional recognition of the face and no Mac today has the TrueDepth sensor.
The only biometric proposal that Apple computers have, and in some other models is the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. It was first introduced in 2016 on MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, and now it also available on MacBook Air. Another point to keep in mind is that Face ID needs the Neural Engine. Tim Cook said that the first Mac with an ARM processor could arrive later this year. However, he did not specify whether it would be a desktop or a laptop.